Really?…………… It’s not coming home!

These past weeks have brought their own share of drama in the world of sports and specifically football. Great teams have not performed to their own or their fan’s expectations. There were surprise wins and some broken dreams. In what appears to be a flash, years of preparation went up in flames.

Everywhere I looked, there was such anticipation in the air. “It’s coming home” became the nation’s slogan, until it wasn’t. You could cut through the post match disappointment. It was not only the pain of the players, it was the pain of millions.

Many were looking forward to history being made, a new generation stayed up late to watch their nation recreate stories they had heard growing up.

There were reminders everywhere that people’s hope, dream and desire was for the World Cup to come back home to England but it wasn’t to be. Not this time.

As I reflected on the highs and lows of the World Cup, I couldn’t help thinking about the highs and low that we all go through in life. Like the World Cup, we all have things we are aspiring to and races we are running.

Quite often we have tough opponents standing between us and victory. Years of practice and sacrifice can be gone in a flash. Sometimes it feels like victory is unfairly snatched away from us in the last moments of the match.

On the journey to live life fully and fulfil our purposes, we will encounter some speed bumps and sometimes full derailment of our plans. There will be moments that can make us question if it’s worth going on, moments of regretting the opportunities that were not taken or moments we wish we could do over.

Sadly life doesn’t allow for exact do-overs since we can’t turn back the time, but we always have a choice to go on, to try again, a choice to not give up.

‘Starting over’ and ‘not giving up’ are within our gifts.

The World Cup is every four years and there will be players who have lost their opportunity to ever win one. The good news is that’s not the case for us.

Tomorrow is another day. We can start afresh with no delays and no risk of missing out completely. The only way we miss out is if we stop trying.

As we all recover from the World Cup drama, here’s a reminder to continue to get up and show up. We need to learn to put the past behind and press ahead into the exciting future that’s ahead of each of us.

Find people who can help you get out of any rot you find yourself. Look for mentors who can steer you towards you goal. Reach out to friends and family who can nurture and encourage you as you start over again.

I believe in God, in the power of prayer and in giving of myself even as I work through challenges and disappointments. It’s a reminder that I’m loved and not alone, there’s help, and there are people in worse situations that I can still bless.

For our footballers, there’s the next World Cup in four years and that’s another opportunity for the cup to come home.

For the rest of us, there’s today and hopefully tomorrow. Our personal ‘world cup’ is nearer than we think and completely within our reach.

All I can say is, ‘Go for it’ and ‘don’t stop’ until you’ve lifted it up in celebration.

Thanks again for reading my post. See you next week. Don’t forget to like, comment and share this post with others.